Foreign Military Sales

Redirection of Accounting Improvement Efforts Is Appropriate Gao ID: AFMD-88-75 September 15, 1988

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed Department of Defense (DOD) efforts to correct long-standing accounting problems in its Foreign Military Sales (FMS) Program.

GAO found that, since March 1988, DOD has: (1) terminated the current central FMS accounting system development effort, citing its excessive costs, schedule delays, and unsatisfactory testing results; (2) transferred responsibility for central FMS accounting from the Defense Security Assistance Agency (DSAA) to the Air Force for development, implementation, and operation of a new system; (3) directed the establishment of a new FMS trust fund by October 1989; (4) directed DSAA to reconcile balances in both the existing and new FMS trust funds; and (5) not clarified the role of the Reconciliation and Case Closure Board in this reorganized effort. GAO believes that, to improve FMS accounting controls and effectively implement its latest initiatives, DOD needs to implement accounting controls to ensure that: (1) the old and new trust funds do not become commingled; (2) military departments transmit and record accurate and complete data in the central FMS system; and (3) central records contain sufficient information to facilitate precise identification and timely resolution of imbalances.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

Director: Team: Phone:


The Justia Government Accountability Office site republishes public reports retrieved from the U.S. GAO These reports should not be considered official, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Justia.